Real Madrid: Caroline Weir knocks former club Man City out of Champions League | OneFootball

They say you can’t write scripts in football, but Caroline Weir scoring the winner against her former club felt somewhat inevitable.

The Scottish star came back to haunt Man City as she slotted home for new club Real Madrid to deny Gareth Taylor’s side the chance to play Champions League football.

Weir only joined Madrid this summer, having spent four seasons in Manchester, yet that didn’t stop the midfielder celebrating wildly after her goal went in.

It’s the second year in a row that City have been eliminated by the Spanish side and their loss means there are just two Women’s Super League clubs that remain in Europe this season.

Weir announces herself for Madrid

During her time at City, Weir popped up with a number of important and memorable goals, which established her as a fan favourite.

Indeed, the Scot scored multiple goals that were nominated for FIFA’s Puskás award, including two against arch rivals Manchester United.

Weir also developed a habit of raising her game in big matches, winning the Player of the Match award in the 2019 WSL Cup final.

However, despite her heroics for City, Weir left the club on a free at the end of last season and was quickly snapped up by Madrid.

The 27-year-old scored in her first three friendlies for the club, before notching her first competitive goal against City.

Madrid are looking to close the gap on Barcelona this season and the addition of Weir will no doubt strengthen their midfield.

The club have also brought in other top names, including highly rated French forward Naomie Feller and Brazilian centre-back Kathellen from Inter.

Another big blow for City

Despite ending last season in strong fashion, City will not play in the Champions League for a second year in a row.

It’s a big blow for a side that boasts a plethora of superstar names, including Euro 2022 winners Ellen White, Keira Walsh, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly.

In truth, it may have been too soon to start the England stars, given they have only recently come back from their summer break and had barely a fortnight off before returning to pre-season.

Yet, Madrid were comfortably the better team and deserved the win in front of their home crowd.

Speaking before the game, Taylor criticised the Champions League format and stressed that it was a shame that one of Europe’s best teams was always going to miss out.

“We are going to lose one really good team that should be in the group stages, and that will be a real shame,” he said. It is now the fifth time City have been knocked out of Europe and their sights will now firmly be set on the upcoming WSL season.

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